Daily Devotional for Wednesday, August 20

The Protest of the Resurrection

“But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: and if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain,” 1 Corinthians 15:13, 14.

Not everything has the same importance. I learned this the hard way on the farm growing up. I hauled a lot of round bale hay on an old flatbed hay truck between farms. I was young and did not realize what was most important. On one trip between farms, I focused my attention upon what was happening behind me instead of what was in front of me. You know what happened next. I drove this large truck and eleven bales straight into the ditch, turning the truck on its side and tearing down the neighbor’s fence. What was happening behind me was important, but what was in front of me mattered more.

            Believe it or not, it is that way with the Bible as well. Some things are more important than others. Do not get me wrong, all things are important in the Scriptures. If God took the time to have it written down, it is important. But some things matter more than others. Many commands pale in comparison to the resurrection. If you miss the resurrection, you miss the point of it all. Your faith is in vain.

            It is probably not a good idea trying to find reasons to dismiss certain portions of Scripture as less important than other sections, but it is equally not a good idea to not pay attention to “the weightier matters” (Matthew 23:23) of Scripture. If we are scrupulous to keep certain parts that we like but ignore that which clearly has greater significance, we enter into dangerous territory.

REFLECTION

Keep the main things the main things, and the other things will fall in place.

Jason Rutherford